Heart of fire
by bluegreengold
Summary: Mythical Pentatonix! Inspired by their original song "Natural disaster", and by the legendary individuals Avi Kaplan, Kevin Olusola, Kirstie Maldonado, Scott Hoying and Mitch Grassi. The epic begins.
1. Burning love

KoRai had tended the heart of the earth with care for long ages, but he was content, spending time deep below the surface before bringing sparks to light the hearths of men and keep them warm and fed by their fires. Occasionally he ascended from his cave dwelling to see the sky and birds flying above, and watch the sun set, ablaze in orange.

One day he saw her. She was walking across the wide meadow, red hair flying in the breeze, singing as she passed into the forest. He came most days then, entranced by her blue eyes and her song, remaining hidden from view. In his cave after sunset, she filled his thoughts, and he could not rest.

Runagai was crossing the meadow as usual, but the sky turned dark and rain pelted down, and she saw a small cottage on the edge of the forest. She thought perhaps she could shelter there, as she was still far from home. As she approached, a lumberjack appeared out of the forest with his axe over one shoulder and a bundle of wood under the other arm. She saw him go inside, and the rain came down in sheets as she knocked on the cottage door. He told her his name was Kuro as he lit a fire and she sat close to it, drying her hair till it formed a red cloud around her head. When the sky cleared, she remained talking with him till the sun was low in the sky, and she took her leave to return home.

Runagai walked through the forest often, hoping to see him, and when she did, they talked and laughed together. He took her to his favourite viewing spot to watch the sun set, and she crept closer to him for warmth. His skin was unusually warm, and she was drawn to him, feeling alive in his intense gaze, while he was captivated, lost in her beauty. She gave herself willingly, and they shared their first night of pleasure in the cottage, where the fire never went out.

She had been happy with him for months, living together in the cottage, the nights a whirl of heated passion. In the daytime he was away working in the deep forest as she thought, before bringing home wood for their fire and a small gift of flowers, or a beautiful feather found on the path. Runagai tended the garden, but the hours hung heavy, and eventually she grew restless and bored. She was making daisy chains in the meadow, when a fair haired man approached on a horse. She was happy to have someone to talk with, and didn't know when her lumberjack would return, so invited the stranger to sit with her. On the porch, they drank mint tea, and she did not protest when he kissed her. He told her that such a rare and beautiful creature should not be left alone hidden in a humble cottage, and she deserved much more. That night, she was thoughtful and although she was cocooned in the bed warmed by Kuro, she wondered if there was more than this.

The fair man visited often, arriving when the lumberjack was away, and they spoke of the city, and of fine clothes and entertainment, and they warmed themselves by the fire that Kuro kept lit, after sharing the bed he thought was his alone. She grew a little distant, her eyes fixed on the far edge of the meadow when Kuro returned with his wood bundle and a handful of forest strawberries he had gathered for her. It could not last.

One afternoon the lumberjack came upon beautiful white flowers blooming in a clearing where the sun slanted through trees. He gathered them for his love and hurried home early, eager to see her smile, but as he approached his cottage, he saw his flame haired woman kissing another man goodbye before he rode away. Kuro's face was grim as he brushed away her welcoming kiss and threw the flowers at her feet.

'Here, in our bed, before our hearth, you betray me?' Runagai was defiant, tossing her red hair, hands on hips.

'He is taking me away to the city, where I can be treated like a princess, dress in silks and braid pearls in my hair. I cannot stay in this forest, at the edge of the world, away from life!'

'I treated you like a queen. My queen.' She heard the hurt in his quiet words, and she replied more harshly than she meant.

'It is not enough.' He scowled at her, and when she tried to touch his arm his skin was hot enough to burn her fingers. He grew paler, his dark hair and beard turned black and flickered as heat radiated from his skin. She drew back from him, and he pointed his hand at the hearth. The flames streamed into his fingers and his hair was alight in black fire, his skin white and eyes burning with rage. Runagai turned and ran out into the clearing in front of the cottage, and watched in horror as the entire cottage was engulfed in black and red flames. As the cottage burnt down, a figure remained in the centre of the ashes. He stood taller than any man, his black cloak writhing like something alive, his eyes staring at her, black as the abyss.

'What is this?' she screamed, but got no answer. He walked toward her, stopping close enough for her to feel waves of heat emanating from him, making her skin dry and tight. A red stripe marked his right cheek and circled his eye. He spoke just one word then.

'Faithless.'

He started to sing, and she recognised her own song, but in a deep, twisted counterpoint, the notes descending till they could only be felt vibrating in her chest. He knelt and placed both hands on the ground, calling to the fire deep within. The ground warmed and heated under her feet, and the forest started to crackle before first the smaller bushes, then the larger trees caught light. She ran, across the meadow, the shoes burning and sticking to her skin, while behind her the forest burned. She heard a terrible voice crying to the heavens.

'My brothers, my sister, hear me! I call on your aid. I am betrayed by a faithless one, and my heart is cold.' The wind whispered the word over and over. 'Faithless.'

On the far side of the mountains, Sansai Koshu heard his brother. His skin shone like mahogany, and his forehead bore spiral markings. He wore a cloak of green fastened with a clasp shaped like a sunflower over brown leather vest and leggings. The ground shook as he covered the distance between them in great strides, and he saw his brother aflame with anger. Runagai was still running, but the meadow seemed endless and the flowers and grass shrivelled in the heat. Sansai Koshu stamped his feet and drummed on the ground, and the earth groaned and split open, releasing boiling lava orange and red, spewing smoke in jets everywhere she looked. The meadow became a vast field of fissured earth discharging plumes of molten fury. The ground heaved and shook under feet, and rocks tumbled against her feet, tripping her. She begged for mercy, and when no answer came she prayed for rain to quench the surrounding flames.

Suinari was bathing in her favourite mountain waterfall when she heard her brother's cry. She wound her long blue hair around her head like a crown, and donned her clothes of iridescent green and blue, a river of silver forming a necklace around her neck. On each finger she wore a silver ring, on which sea creatures chased each other endlessly. She travelled down the river to the sea, and from there she crossed the ocean, riding the waves on bare feet, foam dripping from her legs and dolphins sporting ahead of her. When she reached land again, she sensed her brothers ahead, and she walked lightly on the ground toward them, the earth cool beneath each footstep. When she saw the woman quivering on the ground, she grew angry.

'You dare call for mercy? Faithless one.' Suinari stretched both hands to the heavens, and dark clouds rushed overhead, and great drops of rain started to fall. KoRai and Sansai Koshu pointed their left hands at the deepening clouds, and thunder cracked while lightning lit up the sky. The rain cascaded from the sky, and where it met the lava and flames it was transformed into steam. The woman screamed as it burned her flesh, her clothes hung in tatters and her hair turned dark, plastered against her back.

The trio stood together in the still heart of the storm, waiting. A beard of black flames still danced around KoRai's bone white face and he opened his mouth releasing a pillar of orange flames into the sky, which fractured into fireballs and rained back to earth. The wind rose, and suddenly two figures stood in front of the woman cowering on the only scrap of ground not on fire. Kitaori was in pure white, his forehead marked by a blue star and his white hair crackling with the colours of the aurora, while his twin was as dark as his brother was pale. Nanaori's dark hair fell in curls and waves around his face, and he wore the mark of the sun in deep red on his golden chest, echoing his orange leggings that seemed to shimmer with heat. They greeted each other with a kiss on each cheek before smiling at the woman. They each held out a hand, and helped her to her feet. But one touch was icy cold, while the other was agonising heat. Their grip tightened and she gasped with relief when they let her go. They started to circle her faster and faster, till they were just a blur of colours, blowing first hot, then cold.

'Faithless. Faithless.' Through the flickering haze surrounding her she heard the accusing words, even though she covered her ears. When she opened her eyes, they were gone, but tornadoes spun across the desolate land, and hail pelted her skin through relentless rain. She was alone in the devastation, and finally Runagai could stand no more.

'What have I done? I am sorry. I am sorry!' KoRai blinked for the first time, as the winds circled her again, whispering over and over,

'Go and never return, faithless one. We have marked you.' She curled into a small ball, her hair burnt and singed, the smoke marks sinking into her skin and remaining, warm to the touch.

Suinari touched her brother's arm, her eyes compassionate as she looked deep into the pain within and said gently,

'We have answered you. It is time for harmony to return.' In answer the fire slowly died and she caught the single tear that escaped his eye, the halo of flames around his head and face ceasing to flicker and cooling. She kissed his cheek, and cast the tear into the great lava lake surrounding the faithless woman. The fires and heat retreated deep into the interior as Sansai Koshu drummed gently, healing the chasms. The woman felt the heat and wind lessen, and she gathered the remains of her clothes around her bleeding and smoke striped skin, and limped slowly away from the forest.

The five siblings walked across to the smouldering forest, where one tall tree still stood, reaching towards the clearing sky, smoking but surviving. They held hands around the tree, which sent its roots down ever deeper toward the earth's heart, warmed again by fire. They sang, for the seasons reborn, for soft winds and gentle rain, green shoots and joyful flowers. When they were finished, the forest and meadow were already green with new life, the sky dotted with clouds against blue. The tree was clothed in fresh leaves and birds sang in the upper branches. Sansai Koshu embraced his brother, and returned to his mountain, the ground shaking lightly under his feet. The twin winds danced around KoRai singing, dark and light, warm and cool as each kissed his cheek and bid him goodbye. Suinari was the last to leave. She embraced her brother, cool against his warmth, feeling him release his rage, sending healing to his bruised heart. Her last words echoed in his ears as she vanished in a shower of shimmering raindrops.

'Your true love is waiting. Guard your heart. Be patient.'


	2. Lost and found

Runagai dragged her burnt feet step by painful step, till the smouldering ruin of the forest and the lumberjack cottage were far behind her. As dusk fell, she was still far from the city, and she had to rest. She had been following the river, and thought she might sleep among a copse of trees that grew nearby. She stumbled down to the water's edge and drank deeply, before hiding herself among a pile of dry leaves under a fallen tree trunk. She shivered with cold, and fell into an exhausted sleep broken by visions of nightmarish flames, and black eyes staring out of the sky.

Next day, she stood in the river and washed her battered skin, her once fine hair hanging dull around her neck. She laid out the ragged clothes to dry on the river bank, and went back to the water but try as she might, she could not wash away the smoke stripes that tattooed her hands and body. When she watched them closely, she thought she saw steam rising from them in wisps, but she dismissed it as the tricks of an overwrought brain. She bandaged her feet with the sleeves of her dress torn in strips, and dressed herself as best she could before going on, feeling a little cleaner. Hunger gnawed at her, and she found a few bushes as she walked, which yielded some berries to eat. Runagai stumbled on, her eyes blinded by tears and painful memories haunting her mind. Someone had brought her gifts of berries and flowers, had kept her warm at night, safe and loved. She had never questioned the fire burning day and night, but she ached for it now. Cold and alone, she put her hope in Kellen, her fair haired horseman, and the lights of the city were within sight.

She passed the poorest dwellings on the outskirts of the city, and her spirits rose. People looked at her sideways, but if she tried to catch their eye they quickly looked away, and she decided to keep her gaze straight ahead.

'Who does she think she is?'

'Looks like she needs a good scrubbing. Or something.' She caught half whispered comments and laughter, and felt suddenly vulnerable. She had to find her way to the safety of Kellen's house, and the life she had been promised. She had no money, and no protector, and she was hungry and tired. When she saw a child in a doorway pointing and whispering, she lost her temper.

'What are you looking at?' she shouted, and the child whimpered and ran indoors, returning with his mother who looked Runagai over before looking her in the eye and saying,

'Get away from my house. We are decent people here, we have no time for beggars.'

'I am no beggar!'

'Hah! Have you seen yourself?' She pulled the child back inside and slammed the door, leaving Runagai shaking. She walked on, till she stood outside a shop window. Inside were beautifully carved chests and painted cupboards, ornate dressing tables with mirrors, trinket boxes and hairbrushes. She did not recognise the woman in the mirror at first. This woman wore a ragged dress and her hair was matted and dark. Grey stripes covered her bare arms and wound around her neck and up to her jaw. Worst of all, a flame like mark snaked up her cheeks and into the inner corner of each eye like a rivulet of tears. She touched the marks and rubbed her cheeks, feeling the slight warmth but not able to remove them. Her shoulders heaved as she understood that her beauty was gone, and with it her dream of city life, and the tears came again. But they hissed and dried on her face as they trickled over the smoke tattoos, leaving little puffs of steam that stung her eyes, and caused her to cry again. She sat on the ground outside the furniture shop weeping, people hurrying by or looking curiously at the woman who appeared to be smouldering. After a while she stopped crying, and instead stared dully at the ground. One or two coppers were dropped at her feet, but she did not move until the shop owner came out to shoo her away. She picked up the coppers, and saw two small feet standing next to her. Raising her gaze at last, there was a young girl looking at her curiously, but without fear.

'What happened to you?' Runagai sighed.

'I got into a fight, and I was hurt. Do you know if there is a healer here? I don't have much money-'

'Who hurt you?'

'Doesn't matter who. I couldn't win, but at least I survived. I need some help.' The girl watched her get to her feet slowly.

'I can show you where. But I can't go with you, I'm not allowed.' Runagai felt she might cry again from relief. The child turned and led her down a side street and as the houses thinned out again she pointed to a small wood in the distance.

'Over there. You'll see.' Runagai squinted into the distance, and turned to ask another question, but the child had vanished.

'Well, thank you anyway.' She started across the fields, eventually spotting smoke curling into the air above a small, rough looking cottage. It was surrounded by plants of all kinds, some in flower, tumbled together in untidy beds. She paused at the edge of the garden, unsure whether to go on. She closed her eyes and tried to summon her courage, but the lack of food and fatigue threatened to overwhelm her. She swayed, the world spinning and her pulse roaring in her ears, before two strong hands gripped her shoulders.

'You'd better come in.'

She was propelled firmly into the cottage and her knees barely held her until she collapsed onto a low bed as blackness closed in on her. She opened her eyes to find a rough blanket keeping her warm, and the blessed softness of a mattress after her nights in the open. As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, she saw a figure seated at a table, pounding leaves in a pestle, and she tried to sit up. Immediately the figure came over and pressed a hand firmly to her shoulder, saying

'Lie still. Have some water,' before bringing a cup to her lips. She drank deeply of the fresh water and allowed herself to fall back on the bed.

'Are you the healer?' The voice that answered was gentle and low pitched.

'Rest first, talk later.'

Candlelight greeted her when she next awoke, and the crackle of a fire was a welcome sound. She sat up on the edge of the cot, still slightly dizzy, and she closed her eyes again. The sound of her rescuer coming back inside roused her.

'Good, you're awake. You look in need of a good meal.' The healer came forward and put down the basket on the table, before pouring hot water from a kettle that hung over the fire into a cup. Runagai drank it gratefully, recognising mint and other bitter herbs, sweetened with honey. It warmed her inside, but she could see that her hands, even the palms were still striped, and she put down the cup with a small sigh. The healer regarded her calmly.

'How did you find me? You are no city dweller.'

'No, I am not, but I asked in the city and a child directed me here. I don't know if you can help, and I have only this,' and she fished the coppers out of her pocket and held them out.

'That is very little, but then again, it may be more than enough. How do you think I can help?' Runagai put the coins on the table and sat on the cot again, eyes fixed to the floor. When she did not reply, the healer shrugged.

'I cannot answer if you do not have a question.' Runagai looked up and met the steady gaze of her rescuer. It was hard for her to revisit the memory of that terrible day, to feel again the terror of her lover's fury and how the gods themselves had answered him to punish her treachery. The whole world had risen up against her, and her future had been snatched away. Tears glistened in her eyes, and before she could wipe them away they trickled down her cheeks, hissing and steaming as they passed over the smoke stripes.

'Something happened to you.' Runagai could only nod, as she tried to control her emotions. She swallowed hard, and her tears receded. She stretched out her arms, palms upward, and lifted her ragged skirt a little to show the tattoos covering her skin. The healer came forward and gently took her hands, shaking her head as she traced the lines and their faintly warm glow.

'I betrayed my lover, and angered him. This is my punishment.'

'A man did this to you?' Runagai shook her head sadly.

'It was a man I betrayed. But it was no man I witnessed that day,' and her voice trailed off, her eyes staring blankly into the past.

'This is unusual, and I am unsure if I can help you. But if you wish, you can remain here for a while in return for helping me. I live a simple life, but there is always work to do.' The healer spoke kindly and Runagai made her decision.

'I know a little about plants, and I can fetch water and wood for the fire. If you ask, I will do it, and if you can help me, I will be forever indebted to you.' They shook hands, and the healer made a small bed of blankets in the corner for Runagai, who settled into an exhausted sleep. She walked over a desolate landscape, and when she tried to drink from the river, the water transformed into boiling lava that burned her hands and mouth, while the wind screamed at her. Steam rose from her face, and she woke crying with the healer kneeling beside her offering a cup of water and a dry cloth.

'Dry your tears, they only cause you more pain.'

The next day she went to the nearby river and bathed thoroughly, rinsing the dirt from her hair. It was far from its former glory, the red dulled and shot through with white. She used a knife to hack off the matted ends, and refashioned her old dress into garments more suited to her new life. The healer identified herself as Ashi, and set Runagai to work in the garden, growing plants for food and for her work with those who came asking for help. Some gawped at her marks, and others were afraid. Sometimes Ashi spent a night away from the cottage helping women through childbirth, and Runagai tended the fire. It was more work than she realised, and she often thought about Kuro and the fire that had burned unceasingly in their cottage. She avoided people, and did not permit herself to weep.

Ashi tried many remedies, but none succeeded. She covered Runagai's skin with poultices, infused herbs in water and added it to a bath, gave her foul tasting decoctions to drink, but the smoke stripes resisted all her efforts. Runagai's fair skin became tanned as she worked outside, yet the tattoos were still visible, and on summer nights she threw off her covers, her skin too warm. One such night, she could not sleep. Her skin burned, and she longed for relief. Quietly she let herself out of the cottage and went in search of a small pool she had found in the wood, where water bubbled up from a small spring. Under a fat yellow moon she stripped off her clothes and stepped into the pool, the water blessedly cool, and afterwards lay on the ground watching wisps of steam curl from her skin and vanish into the night air. Even the moonlight seemed to soothe her, and she drifted into sleep, waking only when birds started to sing at dawn. She was not cold, and she dressed again before hurrying back to the cottage.

Autumn was a busy time, harvesting and preserving food and herbs for the long winter ahead as the days shortened. Ashi watched Runagai without her knowing, noting her fear of storms and lightning, but never asking any questions about her life before they met. She told Runagai that she was free to go, and that she asked no payment as she had failed to remove the marks. But Runagai was content to live with the healer, and she stayed, and learned more about herbs and healing. As winter came, she learned to maintain the fire with a minimum of fuel, and sometimes they shared the cot, since she did not feel the cold as the healer did.

Ashi came home exhausted one morning, after assisting a woman who unexpectedly gave birth to twins. One baby was stuck, facing the wrong way, and it had taken all her skill to deliver both safely. Runagai tucked her up in the cot with blankets and hot mint tea, and sat with her until she fell asleep. She was staring into the fire when someone knocked on the cottage door. Outside a man stood in the snow, panting and sweating. He begged for Ashi, his wife was in labour, but it was too soon. Runagai looked at Ashi, sleeping peacefully.

'Ashi cannot come, she is not well.' The man dropped to his knees in the snow, holding out a purse.

'I beg you, please help us. I will give you anything you ask, here is my money. Take it all.' Runagai hesitated, and she built up the fire before taking Ashi's bag and going outside. The man hurried along, and she kept pace easily, heedless of the snow that fell lightly on her short hair, a knot of fear and excitement in her gut. When they arrived, the labouring mother was surrounded by womenfolk, who looked at Runagai with open distaste and fear, one or two muttering as they left the house. Runagai focussed on the mother, holding her hands, looking in her wild eyes.

'I am here to help you. Be calm.' She called for hot water, and began pounding herbs for a birthing tea as she had seen Ashi do many times. She massaged the woman's swollen abdomen, her touch comforting and warm, talking gently as she worked.

But when the tiny baby boy was born the cord was around his neck, and though she cut it swiftly he did not take a breath. The mother cried when she saw her infant lying silent on the bed, and Runagai's heart felt as if to break. She picked up the infant and cradled him in her warm bare arms, rocking him gently, and after long months without weeping one tear escaped her eye. She sang for him as she had not done since those days past, the tear landing not on her cheek but on his blue lips.

'I am sorry, little one. Go with love.' She felt a trembling, a distant sigh, and all at once her skin itched and burned as the silvery tear trickled into the infant's mouth. He gasped, and she put aside the searing pains coursing through her to blow warm air gently into his lungs. His pallid skin became pinker, and he gasped again before letting out a lusty cry. Runagai quickly wrapped him and handed him to his mother, but her entire body was on fire, it was unbearable agony that engulfed her, and she ran outside, brushing aside the thanks of the new father. A pale moon hung low in the sky, and she hurried toward the healer's cottage. Pain filled her body and soul, but before she reached home she knew that she had to find relief somehow. She went instead to the cool spring, undressing as she approached, and she hammered with her fists to break the layer of ice that covered the surface, diving in with a hiss as her overheated flesh kissed the water. The ice melted instantly and the waters boiled around her, but she was not harmed, and when she surfaced she felt unusually cold. There was no pain as she left the pool and started to pull on her clothes, and as she made her way home the pool became absolutely still, the moon perfectly reflected within it.

Runagai was startled from sleep by Ashi touching her shoulder. The cottage was warm and a cup of mint tea waited on the table.

'You are the talk of the city, that you revived a stillborn infant. How did you do it?' Ashi regarded her curiously once more. Runagai shrugged, and sipped her tea.

'These things are in the lap of the gods, you know that. I warmed him a little and he took a breath. Oh!' She put her hand to her mouth. 'I forgot your bag, we have to retrieve it!' She got up groggily and drew nearer to the fire, she felt chilled and stiff. She insisted on going back to the house as soon as she finished her tea, where the couple gazed lovingly at their son, his dark blue eyes watchful, and a scrap of black hair peeping out of his bonnet.

'We cannot thank you enough. We thought he was surely lost to us.' The father tried to press the money into her hand, but she gave it back to him.

'I did not do this for payment.'

'Then perhaps you would like to name him?' She thought for only a moment, before speaking with certainty.

'Kuro.'

She had wrapped up well for the journey, and it was only when she returned to the cottage that she saw her hands and arms bore no marks. She pulled off her trousers, and every inch of visible skin was free from tattoos. Only her face remained a mystery, and having no mirror she went back to her pool. The surface was glassy still, and she recognised her face, thinner than before and her hair a red and silver halo. No marks were visible on her cheeks and neck, and all that remained was a dark band encircling her left eye. She smiled with pure happiness for the first time in a year, and wrapped herself again in hat and scarf. When she turned to go she was startled to see two figures on the path in front of her. One was a woman in green and blue whose long blue hair rippled down to her knees, her feet bare despite the snow, but the other was the lumberjack. She was dumbstruck, afraid, but Kuro smiled at her as they approached.

'I have come to see your redemption, Runagai. You carry only a small mark to remind you, because when you leave here, you will forget us and the events of that day will no longer haunt your nightmares.' Her heart turned over at the sight of him, his smile warming her despite the cold that turned her breath white in the winter air. She knew he could never be hers again.

'Love is the source of our hope and joy, and of our despair, it both damns and saves us. Love gives us wings, and dashes us into the abyss. And forgiveness is also love.' They were level with her now, and he touched his lips to her cheek, his skin warm as always.

'Go with love, little one.' She did not notice Suinari's cool touch on her right arm, and her whisper,

'Forget.'

Runagai woke at the tap on her shoulder, her dream slipping away like smoke on the wind. Ashi was smiling at her.

'You've been asleep for hours. You are the talk of the city, that you revived a stillborn infant. How did you do it?' She looked down at her hands, her skin finally clear, and wondered.


	3. The gift

Renn watched from the cover of some bushes, hardly daring to breathe. He knew it was wrong, but yet he could not tear himself away. She was so beautiful, and his heart almost stopped when she glanced in his direction. But he was confident that he had not been seen, and he let his eyes roam over the sinuous curves of her body, the silver glittering at her neck and on each finger. When she stepped out of the lake her long light blonde hair flowed around her, and as she braided it and then wound it about her head, she was displayed for him alone. She dressed and walked away, still barefoot, humming quietly.

Soon Renn worked out a plan. If he got through his chores quickly, he could go in search of her again. He hid for hours hoping to see her, and was finally rewarded by the sound of her song, her voice like a cool mountain spring as she approached the lake and shrugged off her tunic and leggings of blue and green. She submerged herself, and his heart hammered in his throat when she did not reappear for a long time. As he started to worry, she reappeared, her skin glistening in the sunlight, and swam out into the centre of the lake with strong strokes before returning to the bank where her clothes waited. This day, she sunned herself for a while until her hair dried. He longed to run her fingers through her hair and trace her skin while she sang for him alone.

The next time he saw her, she was sitting beside the water, combing out her hair with delicate fingers, singing quietly. He felt he must speak to her and so he walked out from his hiding place. She stopped singing to watch him warily. Before he could speak she stood up and looked around, but he held out his hand in greeting and smiled. He told her his name, and said that it was not safe for a woman alone there.

'Anyone might come out of the forest.'

'Like you did?' There was amusement in her blue eyes, but no fear.

'Well yes, but I mean you no harm. Permit me to take you home safely.' She laughed and shook her head at him.

'I need no help from you, but thank you.' He stepped forward, and he could see the silver necklace more clearly now, made of many tiny beads that rippled as she moved. But she simply smiled at him and walked away, leaving him alone.

He spent long hours wondering how to capture her attention. His next visit was some weeks later, and he was bursting with excitement as he awaited her approach. In his pocket was the little decorative comb he had spent every spare hour making. The wood was burnished smooth and he had carved a tiny fish on it, knowing that she loved the water. Once again he spoke to her, letting her voice dance around him, utterly entranced. She accepted the comb with a dazzling smile, tucking it into her hair and turning her head to show him. The pale curve of her neck was irresistible, and his hand moved unbidden. She flinched at his touch, causing him to draw back.

'I am sorry, I meant no harm.'

'We cannot be together, Renn.'

'Because you are promised to another?' He could not believe that no other man found her attractive, but yet he hoped she would say yes to him.

'I am not meant for you.' He thought of all the nights when he dreamed about her, and all the days he had watched her in secret, burning with desire. He put a hand on her arm.

'Perhaps I could persuade you- ' but she shook her arm free and backed away from him. He was confused and a little angry, and she turned towards the water. He went after her, and she waded into the water and dived in fully clothed, swimming away rapidly. He saw her reach the far side of the lake and get out there, before vanishing from sight.

Renn walked around the lake to see where she had gone. The lake narrowed into a river on the far side, and he thought he knew what to do. Above him the clouds turned grey and ominous, and he hurried back home before the rain started. The next time he waited unseen as she stripped off her clothes and dived into the lake, and while she was underwater he took her clothes and hid them. When she came out of the water and found they were gone, he approached her.

'I have your clothes, and you are alone here. It is not safe, you should come with me.' He smiled as she looked around her, the fish comb securing the braid around her head, her hands failing to cover her glorious body. He saw her smile, and thought she had surrendered as she raised her arms to the sky. The sky darkened, clouds swirling overhead and the temperature dropped.

'You think you possess me, because you have seen me? What you see is but flesh, and you cannot possess me.' He smirked at her, and said,

'Oh yes, I have watched you for so long, and you will be mine.' She frowned at him, and stamped her foot. There was a distant rumble like thunder, but he disregarded it. She plunged back into the water and began swimming, but with a smile he mounted the horse tethered nearby and rode around the edge of the lake, easily outpacing her. When she reached the mouth of the river and tried to exit, she became tangled in the net he had hidden there. He dismounted and strolled over to where she thrashed in the net, her hair coming loose from its braid, and smiled easily at her. Rain started to fall in great drops, but he was enjoying the chase, and certain of his quarry.

He waited for her to tire, but her struggles only increased, and the water started to foam around her. Renn went closer to see what was happening, but she disappeared under the churning surface. He waded down to the river bank, the ground slick in the increasing rain, and he thought he saw her, suspended under the water, eyes staring at the sky. Bubbles rose from her mouth and nose as her body disintegrated before his eyes, turning into a mass of tiny silver fish, darting and breaking the water before vanishing from sight. Just as he began to fear all was lost, he thought he spotted her across the lake, swimming back towards her entry point. He got back on his horse and urged it forward, arriving well before her. She swam surrounded by silvery fish frolicking around her, and stopped a little way from shore. He was speechless as she rose out of the water and walked towards him on the waters of the lake, whipped up into angry waves by the wind, while the fish continued to sport around her, now changing hue as they jumped from the water, a living rainbow of colours. Her eyes were fixed on him, becoming such an intense blue that he was unable to look upon her directly and he turned away.

'Look at me now! What do you see?' Her tone was commanding, and despite himself he gazed on her again. She took the fish comb from her hair, which immediately flowed around her body, turning blue and silver. Where it touched her skin small scales appeared, weaving themselves into an iridescent garment from which little bolts of green and blue light darted towards him.

'I would have kept you safe! I brought you a gift!' She shook her head and held up the comb.

'You speak of security, when you actually mean to imprison me. What you brought was not truly a gift, but lure and payment.' She tossed the comb into the lake, where it sank from sight. Rain poured down and soaked him to the skin.

'What are you?' he muttered, and heard her voice seemingly next to his ear, whispering.

'I am elemental. I cannot be contained. I am not for you.' Now truly afraid he went to escape on his horse, but the animal had taken fright and bolted. He roared at the woman hovering just above the water, a terrible beauty suffusing her face, shining bright in the heart of the storm. Her eyes were twin blue suns and her suit of scales shimmered. He ran to take cover and stumbled over the clothes he had hidden away earlier. He cursed her and started to rip them into pieces, but they quivered and ran through his fingers like quicksilver, vanishing as they touched the ground. Her voice drifted around him, quiet but distinct.

'You should not be alone here. It is not safe. Come to me.' She pointed one finger and beckoned him, his feet moving of their own accord. He could not resist, and yet he was terrified, his heart hammering in anticipation. He walked back to the edge of the lake, the water lapping at his feet as Suinari glided towards him. For a moment he thought she might embrace him, but she did not. The light hurt his eyes and coldness surrounded him. Instead she leaned close, and her lips brushed his ear.

'Do you know what it is to be wanted by all those who look upon you? Do you know what it is to be desired?' The fish comb materialised in his hand, and as he looked at it the carved fish seemed to come to life, suffused with colour, its black eye growing and staring. Suddenly Renn was falling, deeper and deeper, and the last thing he heard before the darkness closed in was a tinkling laughter.

He was so hungry, so cold, but everyone who offered food and shelter tried to trick him. He wandered endlessly and found no peace.

The fisherman waited patiently, his boat rocking on the water. Many people had spoken of a great rainbow coloured fish in the lake, but it had evaded capture for so many years, that some thought it was a myth. He tried different bait, different lures, and bided his time. He was persistent and determined, even among fishermen. He had got close enough to catch a glimpse of the fish once or twice as it evaded the bait, and it was beautiful. He had to possess it.


	4. Heart beats

She sat on the porch weeping bitterly as he disappeared over the horizon. She did not know when he would return, and meantime she was alone with her fears and the empty field mocking her. No rains had come this spring, the earth was baked hard and dust devils whirled in little puffs of wind. Perhaps if she cried longer, she could water the land with her tears.

He walked mechanically, one step after another in his old boots, his coat flapping open in the warm morning air. He knew she cried the tears he could not, but there was no choice. Without crops to sell and eat, they would surely starve, and he had promised to look after her. He had promised his wife, as she lay gaunt on her death bed, to look after himself so that he could care for their beautiful girl. Breena had given him a reason to hold on to life when he ached to let go, and someone to care for when he nursed the hole in his heart that could not be filled. And so Marten walked on, hoping that he could find some way to earn money that would buy the food they needed to survive. He saw that the land was bone dry under a bright sun, and the leaves were crisp with browned edges, even on the trees. He begged his wife to forgive him for leaving Breena alone, and asked her to watch over them both.

Breena stood up after a while and wiped her face on her sleeve before going back inside the cottage. She gathered together the remaining food- a little dry bread, some dried berries and one tough strip of precious dried meat, a few old root vegetables. It would not last more than a few days, even if she rationed herself strictly, but her father would surely be back very soon. He always kept his promises. She went into his bedroom and buried her face in his pillow, saying a little prayer for his safe return, then drank water to fool her stomach and ate a small piece of bread before tidying the cottage. Without field chores she had time on her hands, and soon found herself daydreaming about the old days, sitting on her mother's chair on the porch. Her mother always found time at the end of the day to braid her hair and sing her songs, when she had swept the cottage and caught the chickens, weeded the little flower garden behind the cottage and peeled potatoes, fetched kindling for the fire, and any number of little jobs. Her mother had said,

'Hard work keeps us alive, but beauty gives us a reason to live, and we should give thanks for that. Always look for beauty in life, Breena.'

She taught her the difference between weeds and flowers, though to a child's eyes they all looked equally pretty. When Suza fell ill, Breena picked flowers to put by the bed, to see her smile and declare them the most beautiful flowers ever seen. At the end, she picked a last fistful of flowers to rest with her mother for ever, and when they returned from the burial, her hand tight in her father's rough palm, they both wept to see the little flower bed empty. They had clung to one another in the years that followed, but this year had been the hardest, despite all their efforts. The ground defied digging and ploughing, and she watched her father swing the hoe to no avail. There was no reward for all their work and they went to bed exhausted and hungry many nights. No rain came.

The sky wore an intense, cloudless blue, but in the deep cave that KoRai called home a warm red glow lit up the walls. From here he could descend to the core, where he sang to the eternal flame and kindled sparks for man's fires, or ascend to the surface and loose lightning bolts when Suinari called the storms. There had been no storms, and no thunder for some time. KoRai felt the earth's heart beat steadily, yet something had changed. He went up to the cavemouth to see the sun go down as was his custom, and the land seemed parched and browned. Even the mountains seemed to have shrunk. As the sun slipped beneath the horizon, he placed one hand on the ground and spoke, letting the words travel through his arm and into the earth.

'Brother Sansai, I would see and speak with you.' As he stood, an answering shudder greeted his feet, and soon he saw Sansai Koshu striding down the mountain and across the fields, green cloak flying and a broad smile of greeting lighting up his face. The brothers embraced warmly, and went down into the cave as the last light of sunset faded.

They talked of many things, and their laughter shook the cavern, until KoRai grew serious.

'Sansai, something is not right in the world. You feel it too?'

Sansai Koshu nodded.

'There is no rain, and the soil does not yield to the plough. Men have long taken what they need with our help, but they give nothing in return, and there is no balance. Suinari dwells in the deepest ocean with her sea creatures, and she is content. You know she cannot be commanded, and she chooses the sea.' Sansai shrugged his massive shoulders, the light glowing on his dark skin.

'Kitaori dances amid blizzards in the far north, while brother Nanaori strays far from his home sometimes, and the hurricanes rage. He is angry, that men forget him.'

The two fell silent for a moment.

'Our father spoke of this, but I never thought to see it happen.' KoRai's black eyes were sad as he held his brother's gaze. Sansai Koshu had removed his cloak, and he stroked the sunflower clasp before declaring,

'I will go, and see if any still remember. You remain here, and if it is necessary, call us back to you.'

That night Breena dreamed her mother sat on her bed, smiling and happy. White light glowed around her, and she stroked her hand and told her not to worry, she must keep going.

'Be thankful, beauty is all around if you look. Dear girl, have faith in yourself.' When she woke, the cottage was dark and there was a gnawing emptiness in her stomach.

'What have I to be thankful for? I am all alone here.' There was nobody to answer her, and she turned over to doze fitfully until dawn's first light. She allowed herself one crust of bread when she finally arose, and tried brewing tea with a few leaves gleaned from the edge of the field, but it was bitter and all the honey was long gone. She forced it down, and walked over the field again, but saw no signs of life. Breena had never lived through a season like this, and she wondered where to find advice. Finally she remembered the healer who had tried to help her mother. She lived two hours walk away, but she had nothing else to do. She gathered the last of the dried food and set out in the opposite direction her father had taken, deeper into the forest.

The sun winked through the trees, and it was a little cooler there. By keeping to the path she eventually came across the clearing with smoke curling from the chimney of a rough cottage. The untidy profusion of plants that used to surround it was reduced to a few straggly specimens, but there was still a good stack of firewood outside as always. She knocked on the door, and Ashi came out, wiping her hands on her tunic.

'Hello- my name is Breena. I don't think you will remember me, but you helped my mother, and I need some advice, please?'

Ashi's blue eyes swept over the young woman in front of her, and she smiled a little.

'Suza, wasn't it? Yes, she fought valiantly, but it was not to be. These matters lie at the whim of the universe sometimes. Like the weather.' She motioned Breena inside and followed behind, watching her closely.

'I realise that more than a few years have passed, seeing you grown and so lovely. You have your mother's look about you. And your father?'

Breena bit her lip, before saying,

'Father is well, except that with the unseasonal weather, all our crops failed, and he has gone to the town to find work and earn some money. I hope he can buy new seed, and flour for bread. I hope he will come back soon, but he told me to wait.' Her eyes were bright with tears as she went on,

'I am afraid. Why do the rains not fall? Why does the earth resist us? My mother came in a dream, and told me to be thankful. What does it mean?'

'I have spent many hours searching for an answer, but it eludes me. I cannot speak for your dream, but perhaps we can drink tea and talk more. You look thin.'

Breena shook her head,

'I think we are all going hungry, but I brought some food to share.' The small piece of meat and handful of berries looked pitiful, and she added the last two battered potatoes as well.

'Well, this might make a feast one day, but I think we will save it for now. I live on porridge, and herb tea to keep me strong. You like books, do you read?'

Breena quickly put down the leather bound volume she had been looking at, blushing.

'Sorry, I didn't mean to touch, but it's beautiful. I never learnt my letters, I had to help Father after- after she passed, so…' she trailed off and stopped.

'Well have a look, just be careful. I have been searching the old texts, but there is no help to be found so far.' Ashi tucked a stray lock of white hair behind her ear before making mint tea, and Breena found it warmed her as she turned the pages of the book. The illustrations and the writing all seemed wondrous to her, and she traced them with her forefinger. When she reached the back of the book, she ran her fingertip over the embossed sunflower on the inside back cover. Ashi sipped her tea and watched her enjoying the journal, remembering how her mother had borne the pain without complaint, her little girl never far away.

'Thank you, for letting me see this book. It's wonderful.'

'One day, when you can read, it will be even more so.'

It was easy to accept the offer of a bed for the night, and Breena almost cried with relief when she settled down on the mattress in the corner. She was fast asleep within minutes.

The next morning, Marten woke stiff and aching where he had slept under a hedge. He had not yet found any work, every smallholder and farmer was having the same problems. They cursed their luck and sent him on his way, and he went on towards the nearest town, hungry and losing hope, anxious about his daughter and fearful of the future. Meantime, Breena was up and helping with the firewood and chores, after a good sleep and with a little warm porridge to keep her going she felt much better. While working, the dream played on her mind, but she could not think what it meant. Instead she thought about the book, and hoped she could look at it again. Later that morning she slipped back inside the cottage, pulled the book off the shelf and started to turn the pages. Absorbed in a picture, she was startled by Ashi suddenly coming in and saying,

'Why are you so fascinated with that old book?'

'It's beautiful, I never saw anything like it before.' Again she ran her fingers over the embossed end paper, and she thought she heard a rumbling like distant thunder. No clouds disturbed the clear blue sky.

Marten walked on, until he reached the edge of the town. It was market day, and he followed the throng of people till he reached the market. There was little food for sale, and at a high price. He could not see how he was to earn any money or even barter for food, and sadness swallowed his heart. Seemingly in answer, a ragged man produced a battered fiddle and started to play a mournful tune. Nobody paid any attention, until Marten found his voice and began to sing. The lament poured from him, as he sang, eyes closed, for his beloved wife, for his daughter, for disappointment and the end of hope in the world. The fiddler continued, as people stopped and one or two threw small coins in the cup. Then a tall broad man in a dark green cloak appeared from nowhere and pulled a small drum from his pack. He began, softly at first, then louder, the rhythms complex, and the fiddler switched to dancing music. Marten finished his song and drummer and fiddler played on as a crowd gathered, some tapping their feet and others swaying, Marten clapping along with the rhythm. The music reached a crescendo and the drummer continued impossibly fast, his hands a blur as he came to a triumphant finish. The crowd applauded and several placed coins in the fiddler's cup. But when the drummer pulled down his hood and held out his cup, people backed away, muttering at the spiral tattoos on his dark brown skin and close cropped black hair, even pulling their children away. He said nothing, but put away the drum and after raising his hood walked away from the dispersing crowd. The fiddler and Marten bowed to each other, smiling, and divided the coins equally in thirds. When the drummer could not be found, Marten searched for him but without success, till he spotted a tall hooded figure walking swiftly along the road out of town. He called,

'Hey, wait! Wait for me!'

The figure stopped but did not turn round. Marten reached him, and tapped him on the back. He was a head taller and broad shouldered, and Marten wondered if he were a blacksmith, looking at his powerful forearms and hands. His cloak was fastened with a clasp shaped as a sunflower.

'I have something for you.' He gave his share of the money, saying,

'Thank you. I could not have earned this without you, it is rightfully yours.'

The drummer smiled at him then and nodded.

'Thank you, friend, not everyone is so generous. I am journeying to the next village. Are you travelling this way?'

'No, I must return to the town and earn more money to buy supplies, and get back to my daughter.'

'Then I bid you goodbye.'

Marten shook his hand and returned to town, feeling much more hopeful, but when he looked back the drummer had vanished.

Soon the drummer approached the healer's cottage, and he knocked lightly on the door. Ashi greeted him with her usual appraising look as he explained that he was passing by and just wanted some water, and he would pay for bread if they had any. He accepted her offer of warm porridge, as there was no bread, and sat down on the porch. The sun was high in the sky and he removed his cloak to reveal brown leather tunic and trousers. Breena could not help but notice the strength in his arms and shoulders, his dark skin shining in the sunlight as if polished when he set the drum down beside him. Ashi spooned porridge into a dish, while Breena made the herb tea. She went out to the drummer and spoke shyly, hardly daring to meet his eye.

'Here is your tea.'

'Thank you, you are most kind.' He smiled at her, and she felt her heart flutter as a blush rose from her neck, and she smiled back but could find no more words to say.

Quickly she went inside again and listened as Ashi asked him about the drum. He explained that he was a traveller, and he would sometimes play his music for celebrations. These were not so common in these difficult days, but people still needed distraction. He placed the drum between his knees and started with a slow beat, becoming more complex but no faster, and Ashi tapped her foot in time. Breena could not explain how she felt the drum as if it were the beat of her own heart. She found everything about him beautiful, and his drum spoke to her without words. When he took his leave, she was sad to see him go, and the cottage seemed too quiet without his voice booming outside.

Later that evening when she took the book from the shelf it seemed to vibrate and with a small cry of surprise she dropped it. Retrieving it, she felt it pulsing in her hands and the pages flicked open to the back page. The end paper appeared to have come loose, and as she touched the embossing a pressed flower fluttered to the floor. Ashi came in as Breena picked the dried flower up.

'What was that?' Breena was almost crying.

'I don't know, I'm sorry, I touched it and it was loose.'

Ashi was examining the book very closely.

'This is strange, I never saw this before. There was a sunflower drawn on the end paper, now look.'

She lifted the loose edges of the end paper to find two pages of fine red script, and she turned the small orange sunflower over in her hand.

'Tell me exactly what happened.'

'I saw the sunflower but it wasn't a drawing, it was raised up. And the book was trembling in my hands, and then the flower fell out when I touched it. And…' she stopped, a faraway look in her eyes, 'I can feel it inside me, like a heartbeat. I can almost hear it. Can't you?'

Ashi looked at her with calm interest, then cocked her head on one side, listening intently.

'I hear nothing. I will try and read this now.' She took the book and the magnifying glass and sat at the table. It took some time, and Breena tried to sit still but she could not. Instead she went out to stack wood, then paced restlessly before coming back inside. Ashi looked up, her finger still on the red lettering and eyes bright with hope.

'I think I have found my answer. There needs to be balance in the world. We have been taking the earth's gifts without appreciating them, without giving back, and the spirits or guardians have become weakened. It is a reciprocal relationship, for if we love our world, it returns our love. Once everyone understood this but now, too often, we only take. Here, I have always given thanks for what I have, knowing everything is connected, and if I have managed to keep some things growing, I realise it is the earth that helps me. I do not curse the heavens when things go against me, rather I am thankful for what I have. This prayer of thanks may be a way to honour and restore that balance.'

'This can restore the land? You must teach it to me, then I can return home and wait for my father.' Breena could hardly contain her excitement, but the healer was more reserved.

'There is no guarantee that it will work, still we have nothing to lose by trying it.' Ashi read it to Breena who learned the incantation by heart, repeating it until perfect.

She waited impatiently for morning and rose at first light to sit on the porch. It felt completely natural to close her eyes and allow the inner pulse to grow and surface from within, and when it seemed that every part of her found the same beat she repeated the incantation. She sensed and heard the rhythm, and as it built to a crescendo she felt her skin thin and dissolve, so that outside and inside were no longer separate, and for a moment she was one with the world.

Far away towards the mountains, the drummer paused on his journey. He had travelled to many places seeking those who were pure and open hearted, and he had found few. But now his own heart felt a call, and when he closed his eyes he saw the girl in a moment of connection, fading like the last note of a song carried on the wind. She did not know how much time had passed until she opened her eyes to see Ashi's angular frame in front of her. The healer took her hand and silently led her to the garden. The dusty hard ground was transformed into freshly tilled rows of dark, moist earth, with small shoots already peeping above ground. Even the old plants looked fresher and greener. Breena clapped her hands with childlike joy.

'It works! It really works!'

Ashi found no words to speak, but embraced Breena tightly. She did not want to see her go, there was so much she could teach her, but this was not the time. She knew Breena needed to go home and see her father, and so she let her go with her head full of the incantation and her heart full of the drummer and his beat.

She sat in the centre of the field, and breathing quietly she turned her senses inward. It was easier this time and she felt the rhythm infuse her soul again, deeper than thought, familiar as instinct. She did not know that her father heard thunder, and picked up his pace on the road though he could not see clouds overhead. She felt that she could sing the incantation, with her own heart keeping time, and when she felt the earth tremble beneath her she continued to the end of the song without stopping. Time passed until she opened her eyes and her father stood next to her, surrounded by ploughed rows of soft earth studded by green leaves. Marten was crying as he embraced Breena tightly. She felt a deep sense of calm, and happily they walked hand in hand back to their cottage. There, she explained that she had gone to the healer and together they had found the answer lay in the old book, and she had learned the earth song.

'But it was the drummer who led me to it.'

Marten looked at his daughter in astonishment.

'You met a drummer? A tall dark man? I also met him in the town, that is how I made a little money. He drummed, I sang, another man played the fiddle. He was very gifted, and many feet moved in time but not everyone appreciated him.'

Breena smiled at her father.

'He played for us, just a little, but his song called to me. I hear and feel it even now. It is my connection to the earth, and everything is right. I did as mother told me, to look for beauty and be thankful.' Marten saw her faraway look, and knew his little girl had changed; she saw the world differently now.

Sansai Koshu sat atop his mountain, deep in thought. Already he felt stronger, yet the flutter in his heart was a wonder to him. Breena travelled with her father to neighbouring farms to help spread word of the prayer. He glimpsed the girl during her song, and somehow she called to him more than any other, so much so that the earth immediately bloomed with new life when she sang. Others had learned to speak the incantation, but none had the skill of singing the old earth song. He called to his sister for her counsel, and she came to greet him with a cool kiss on either cheek. She held his hand and burrowed her bare feet into the soft earth around their stone chairs.

'What ails you, brother?'

His laugh was like distant thunder.

'I am not sick. In fact I am refreshed, since people have remembered to give thanks for the earth's bounty. I am happy that enough good souls remain to honour the guardians. It strengthens us all, and these are better days.'

Suinari nodded, and she watched the western horizon where a strong and necessary rainstorm blew.

'Yes, balance returns. But your heart is changed. I can feel it,' and she placed one finger on his chest, her silver rings glittering. 'Someone calls you. She feels the beat of the earth's heart, she has heard your song and it is her song. Your hearts share one pulse and one rhythm.'

Sansai Koshu's smile was wide as he nodded vigorously.

'Ah, sister, you see into my heart! Her song alone commands me, and the earth blooms for her. This is new to me.'

Suinari laughed.

'It is a rare thing, to find the other half of your heart. I am happy for you. But you must know if she shares your feelings.'

'When she sings to me, there is a moment of connection, and I see her. I do not know what she sees. But at that moment, there is no division, no separation.'

'Then you must find her.'

Marten was very happy to see the drummer at his door. He looked just the same, and the drum was slung over his back. He welcomed him inside, where he seemed to fill the small space.

'When Breena returns we will eat. She goes to the healer to learn her letters, and the ways with herbs, and womanly things I cannot teach.' Outside in the field plants quivered in a light breeze. The drummer talked with Marten, who looked heavenwards as he heard the soft rumble of thunder once more. Even his drum seemed to keep time of its own accord, and so he went out and waited on the porch with the drum beside him vibrating softly.

After a short while Breena appeared and walked towards him, smiling in recognition. In answer his heart beat to a familiar rhythm, expanding with happiness, and then she stood before him, placing her hand over his heart as he placed his hand on hers. They stood for a moment, eyes closed and swaying gently in unison. She spoke with no trace of hesitation,

'I hear your song. I knew it in my heart when you first played it for me, and I have felt it every moment since.'

'And your song calls life to the earth. It calls me here, to you. Together we will create a beautiful harmony.'

Sansai wrapped his arms gently around Breena and she laid her head on his chest. She did not know if it was his heartbeat she heard, or her own. She only knew that they were called to be one.


	5. Wind songs

**Heart of fire Chapter 5**

Nanaori lived in the warm, dry southern lands, where lush oases punctuated plains of shifting sand. One such oasis was his home, hidden from human eyes. Occasional travellers might think they had glimpsed a tented city of red and gold, but as they rubbed their disbelieving eyes the vision slipped from sight, and they swore it was a mirage before continuing their journey. The city existed in the space between one eye blink and the next, fleeting yet eternal.

In the largest tent, hung with finely worked tapestries and with soft carpet underfoot, Nanaori passed away languid hours surrounded by servants, entertainers and companions who attended every whim. Though they all were beautiful, it was generally agreed that their master's beauty was unmatched. Black curls frothed and waved around his head, his beard was trimmed and oiled, and his dark eyes shone with life. He bore the sun's mark in red and yellow on his golden skin, with loose pants in similar colours, and a ruby jewel flamed in each ear. The scent of spices and exotic perfumes filled the air, while the gardeners kept flowers blooming all year.

When he passed by the warm southern wind came with him, soothing and balmy. But when he grew sad or lonely, hot dry winds lashed the land and turned green to brown. The people heard the wind raging, and those who listened carefully thought they heard a mournful song, whispering at the edge of each gust. Then Kitaori might answer the call, and come to meet his brother wearing his white suit of goose feathers with a blue star glittering on his forehead and the aurora crackling through his white hair. His eyes burned with the frosty depths of blue sapphire, echoed in each ear by white opals. As he travelled on the cold north wind he shed ice in the form of snow and rain, until he saw Nanaori. They embraced each other and danced and sang, but they could not remain together for long. Cold rain and sometimes tornadoes marked their meetings, and they knew the people could not live under perpetual cloud and rain, even though the parched earth welcomed it. Regretfully they kissed each other's cheek and returned to their lands, both happier and sadder then before.

Seasons passed, and Nanaori grew restless and unhappy. He longed for something he could not describe, and the entertainments bored him. He banished his companions and slept alone, though many nights found him staring at the roof of his tent, unable to settle. One night he threw aside his embroidered blankets and put on his slippers before stepping outside and making his way through his city to the desert beyond. There was no moon, and countless stars glittered in the sky. Nanaori sat down, shivering a little in the desert cold, and looked at the stars in wonder as they moved slowly above his head. He forgot the cold and sent his question out into the infinite universe.

'What do I need?'

The stars wheeled overhead, apparently unconcerned, and his eyelids grew heavy till he fell asleep where they danced in his dreams. He awoke at dawn and rubbed his arms to banish the chill, then made his way back to his bed feeling calmer. Waking at noon, he found his favourite companion snuggled against his back, and he wondered if the whole night had been a dream.

Far to the north, Kitaori wandered through his ice palace, his rest disturbed by a fragment of memory slipping away as he tried to grasp it. He padded on silent feet, his snow leopard Yuki keeping step by his side, before deciding to go out. He chased the big cat in play while the north wind grew in power, whistling and sighing around the teepees of the northern tribes. The medicine man stirred in his bed and whispered in reply,

'Lost, lost you, fire and ice,' before sinking deeper into sleep. Kitaori watched the brilliant stars for a while and asked them,

'What have I forgotten?' but receiving no answer, he returned to the huge white bed piled high with furs and fell asleep with the leopard curled up at his feet.

When Kitaori awoke he still felt a cold chill, and the dream remnant nagged at him like a sharp burr in his moccasin. He called Yuki and together they raced over the snow, his hair crackling with changing colours and the wind howling along with them, until they could go no further. They sat at the top of the world in a blizzard, but rather than feeling more fully himself the troubled feeling at the edge of his heart grew, the song in his heart mournful. Kitaori walked to the northern ocean shore and called to his sister for her counsel and her company.

Suinari left the song of the great blue whales behind and rose out of the water far from shore, and walked towards her brother on the crests of foaming waves, dressed as always in blue and green, blue hair flying behind her in the bitter wind. She greeted him with a kiss on both cheeks and they sat together with Yuki warming her bare feet, watching snow swirl around their heads.

'Kita, I sense your heart is heavy with loss. How long has it been?'

'Seasons pass, sister. I bring the sharpness of winter cold, the clarity of northern light and the soft purity of snow. I rejoice to meet my brothers and you. It has always been enough, but now something is missing. It slips away at the edge of memory, a half remembered dream.' He stopped speaking, and they sat in silence a while. Suinari asked him,

'Who walks in your dreams?'

'Many people. But of late, Nanaori appears often. His face is clouded, and he does not speak.'

Kitaori's face was sad, and Suinari longed to help him, so she said,

'Let me go and speak to him, I have not seen him for many moons. I miss him also.' Smiling, she rubbed Yuki's belly, kissed her brother and dived into the ocean. He watched a blue dolphin with silver tipped flippers leap from the water some distance from shore, and called Yuki. Together they ran back to his palace, the wind and snow abating until as he climbed into bed all that remained of the blizzard was a gentle snowfall.

Suinari approached the southern lands, but there was no ocean close to the oasis. Instead she travelled through underground caves and rivers until she reached Nanaori's home, and so he found her sitting by the well one morning, singing and combing her hair. He clapped his hands in delight and caught her in a fond embrace, lending her some of his warmth.

'Sister, sister, how I have missed you! Many seasons have passed since you visited me, though I know you are far from your beloved oceans here. Come, let us walk together.'

Suinari smiled and they walked arm in warm to a perfumed garden, where they sat near a fountain under the shade of tall palm trees swaying in a soft warm breeze. They talked of their brothers KoRai and Sansai Koshu, of the last time all five had been together, and of past times. Finally Suinari asked,

'And what of Kita? Have you seen him lately?'

Nanaori's smile faded, and he looked past the garden to the endless sands.

'I have seen him, but the sky is heavy when we meet. He walks my dreams, but does not speak. I do not know what I need, but something is lacking.'

Suinari placed one hand on her brother's arm, the silver rings glittering.

'Nana, I have seen him and he dreams of you. I cannot stay too long in this hot dry land, but perhaps we can meet where the climate is more temperate? I will mediate between you and we will solve the puzzle together. What say you?'

'I say yes, for my mind will not know peace till I have my answer.'

'Then let me send for Kita, and meantime you may show me round this marvellous garden.'

She formed words in her mind and blew into her cupped hands, and a puff of mist streamed out between her fingers before vanishing into the hot air. Her words travelled high in the clouds, gathering water and strength until they reached the northern lands as snow. Yuki started yowling softly, and Kitaori looked round to see snowflakes spinning inside his palace. As he watched a ghostly form of his sister revealed itself, composed of snow but lit with a soft blue light from within. He heard her whisper next to his ear.

'Meet your brother and sister in the valley between mountains, where the earth speaks.'

Kitaori's heart leapt and he answered,

'Yes, gladly. I will come.' The blue light winked and faded as the snow scattered to the floor with a sound like a running stream. He hugged the leopard and bid her wait for his return, and as she padded out into the snow he went south letting air fill his feathered suit until he was flying, watching the landscape change below him.

He landed in a green valley between snow topped mountains, and saw his sister standing with their brother by the river that ran between them. Kitaori walked up to the river and greeted his siblings, but as he was about to cross the river to join them, Suinari shook her head. She held Nanaori's hand and stepped into the river, watching as it shrunk to the width of a pathway, then held out her other hand to Kitaori. With the blue water lapping over her feet, she led them both along the narrow stream until they came to a milky blue lake. She said,

'This place is ancient and sacred. Together we may come to know the answers to our questions. But you must trust me, and do as I bid you.'

Both brothers nodded their agreement, and she continued walking. They found themselves walking on the surface of the waters, warm and soothing underfoot until they reached the centre of the lake. Suinari closed her eyes and began to sing a song they had never heard before. When she opened her eyes again they were no longer clear blue, but milky white dotted with sparks of brilliant colours. The opals in Kitaori's ears resonated with her song and he looked at her with wonder, even as Nanaori took his hand to close the circle and the sky filled with pale clouds. The sun was lost from sight but no rain fell. The ruby jewels in Nanaori's ears began to glow and sparkle, despite the lack of sunlight.

'Hold on,' she sang, and around the lake little jets of steam puffed from the mossy ground as the three siblings descended into the lake and vanished.

Kuki roamed all over the globe, never settling anywhere for long. He danced over shimmering blue oceans and snowy mountain peaks. He watched the sun rise over the desert and sink behind green hills. He followed the salmon as they swam up the river from the sea, and then went north where the sun never set, before spiraling around the world again to hot southern lands. In all his travels, he never met another like himself, though he saw many strange and wonderful creatures. He tried to look at himself in a still pool of water, but there were always waves and ripples, and he could not see his reflection. He became sad, and ceased wandering. Around him, the world started to die, but he did not notice. He longed to know his own face, so that he could recognize another like him one day.

In a far distant land covered by desert, he sat to think. Night fell, stars came out and still he sat, crying out,

'I am alone. I do not even see my own face. Show me what I must do, for I cannot continue like this.' In the sky above a shower of comets appeared, and one blazed a trail to the ground burning brighter than any star. It exploded in a burst of colours and Kuki was enveloped in a cloud of light, then he saw the stars winking before his sight faded to black.

From across endless time, Suinari's clouded eyes watched and her heart knew the truth. Her song changed, and the jewels seemed to whisper in her brothers' ears.

_'__Darkness makes light_

_Fire knows ice_

_Then I, now you_

_Entire and true'_

Underwater, she let go of their hands. Immediately they embraced and began to circle, lights sparkling around them. Faster they spun until they seemed as one pillar of light that burst into the sky and streaked toward the clouds before vanishing. Suinari rose slowly to the surface and sat on the water with arms outstretched, balancing cold and warm as clouds covered the sky, so that no storms came and no rain fell.

Nanaori opened his eyes. He lay on the mossy ground looking up at the sky, and as he let go of his brother's hand a tiny spark jumped from his ear to join the lights dancing in his brother's white hair. They sat up and faced each other, looking into each other's eyes. Kitaori was the first to speak.

'First I, then you.'

His brother replied,

'First one, then two.'

Each studied the other in wonder, seeing as if for the first time the blue star of Kitaori, the red sun of Nanaori, black hair and white hair, the sparkle of diamonds in dark eyes of one, and the ruby glitter in the blue eyes of the other. Suinari glided over to them unnoticed, her eyes back to their customary blue. She sat beside them and said,

'We have dreamed one dream. Union is what you needed, Nana, and what you had forgotten, Kita. You have been one, a single being who longed for another to share the world. Now you are two, mirror images, twins. But you each carry the mark of the other, so that you are never truly alone. This is why you are so drawn to each other, yet dark and light, fire and ice, cannot dwell long together. You knew this once, but now you understand it in your hearts. I hold the balance today but this world would tremble beneath endless clouds and storms if you danced together too long. I am sorry.'

Silver tears ran from her eyes, and her brothers caught them as they fell, one drop turning to steam and the other to snow that each blew from his palm.

'If you must cry, let them be tears of joy, sister. We are two, we are one, we may meet and converse and sing, and we know our purpose. It is enough, and we will never know loneliness while we have each other.'

Nanaori and his brother took the jewels from their ears and exchanged them with a kiss.

'Now I have your opals of ice, and you have my opals of fire, and we will never forget.'

Kitaori then touched one finger of his left hand to his hair and held it out to his sister. On his fingertip a tiny galaxy of light swirled and sparked brilliant green and blue, and he placed it in the centre of her forehead.

'We bring this for you from the heart of a star, that you may see further and know more. We love you, now and always.'

The siblings embraced as soft warm raindrops started falling, remaining very still, listening to the singing opals until Nanaori broke away, kissed them both and bid them farewell. He ran lightly over the ground and drifted away on a warm breeze, and Suinari watched as Kitaori vanished in a flurry of snowflakes and fog. For each brother the joy of remembered union eased the ache of longing and separation, jewels of snow and flame forever singing in their ears.

Overhead the clouds cleared and she smiled under the clear sky, content again before walking back across the blue lake and sinking from sight.


End file.
